With price increases happening across the Pet Food and Accessory industry, I have taken it upon myself to ensure that I offer the best pricing for not only the item that you buy but also for courier costs.

Postage is an inevitable expense when purchasing products through the internet, not only is it inevitable for you the customer but also ourselves.  I continue to check out all available couriers and check that we are offering the best pricing and service that we can.  This can sometimes prove difficult as no matter what courier company you use there are always times where you get let down.

I have tried to make my pricing more transparent with offering shipping including in the price on all 10kg, 12kg and 15kg bags of dog food.  These items are sent out DPD which should mean that you get your food the next working day.  For all accessories including dog toys, leads etc the price for shipping is between £2.79 to £3.70 depending on the weight.  These are sent our Myhermes which although are not most people preferred courier they are the cheapest out there.

When looking at an online retailer, please not only check shipping costs but also how long delivery will take.  Some companies offer free shipping however in the small print it says that you may not get your food for 3-5 working days.  Also what carrier are they using.

I believe that Lead On Dog Shop are more than competitive in the online retailer industry with the service, pricing and quality of goods we sell.

Dont forget you also get reward points for everything that you buy aswell.

Homer with his K9Connectables

Homer 3 weeks ago before accident

Homer walking on his own – a bit hairy but he is determined

In the unit foraging for food – his favourite

Homer, my Dalmatian at 14 was never going to get old.  3 weeks ago he was still walking and keeping up, unless he found something tasty, with us on walks.  He didn’t want to be left at home and enjoyed, although loudly playing with Harry his youngest brother.  He did have wobbles on his legs and I could tell they were inevitably not as strong as before.

So his dad and I decided we would have a nice walk one Sunday morning which turned into a complete nightmare.

As usual Spud and Harry were zooming around and chasing squirrels etc as they do, when about half way around Harry ran into Homer!!!!!  Homer went down and couldn’t get out.  He had a floppy back leg…..

Dave and I managed to carry him about 30 minutes to the car and rushed him to the vets.

We discussed his prognosis, especially being 14 and made a decision that if it was dislocated we would repair but if fractured we would have to say our goodbyes.  It was a very emotional time and in all Homers years I had never seen him so quiet and reserved.  This had all happened in 2 hours.

Luckily it was dislocated and the vet repaired him and sent him home.  I like my dogs at home immediately as I feel I can care for them just as well in this sorts of cases.

All the crates came out, lots of vet bed, padding and extra covers to make him as comfy as possible.  He had his back leg in a sling.  Luckily owning the shop I had just got stock of the Ruffwear Webmaster Harness.

Homer was already wobbly on his front legs and now with only 3 legs we had a lot of hard work to do together to get him exercised and comfortable.  Carrying his 25 kgs, I found muscles where I never knew where they were.  He couldn’t go out into our garden as it was too steep and therefore we had to walk him out the front.  Homer has always been strong minded and a huge softy, he has been little trouble all his life and I owed him everything.

So here we are 3 weeks later.  He is on 4 legs, if a little stiff.  He enthusiastically moves around to get to food and on his walks.  He is walking at least 30 minutes a day now and comes into the unit which is safe and he can wonder around.  He is tackling the garden which although I find extremely frightening makes him happy.  The risk of the leg popping out is always going to be there and he needs at least another 3 weeks of being extra extra careful and he is still on pain killers – I am sure when eventually the sun and heat comes out he will be a lot more comfortable.  He will never be able to do the walks we did before as he is now officially old – very sad.

Along with the other 3 dogs I have been working tirelessly to ensure that not only Homer is comfortable but also that he is safe from being knocked by the others.  He is happy and back to being Homer most of the time.

I would not of been able to of managed without the Ruffwear Harness which he still wears full-time so I can grab him if needed.

Make the most of every moment with your dogs as you don’t know what is around the corner.

My nerves are trashed.  He is ever enthusiastic again and I am not sure he realises he needs to be careful.  I was walking the other day and suddenly he dropped to the ground!!!!!  He was rolling….  I avoid grass now.  I have had a mixture of emotions and have been close to tears during his recovery as he is so special.But I love him so much and cannot do enough for him.

 

 

Chicken is one of the most common allergies in dogs

Is your dog itchy, suffer from continuous ear infections, always visiting the vets?  It may be down to diet. You may want to try a Chicken Free Diet.  You may want to try either Eden Country Cuisine, or Eden Fish Cuisine or alternatively the Clydach Dog Food is all Chicken Free.  Clydach also has a number of single source protein foods in their Duck, Lamb and Turkey recipes. Clydach have also launched their Venison with Salmon recipe this month which is a firm favourite with the dogs

Is your dog already on and 80/20 diet however no matter what you do with regards to the feeding guide they still suffer from a bad tummy.  Clydach can be easier on the stomach as although all natural ingredients it has less meat content that some dogs find easier to digest.. Also Eden have recently launched their first semi-moist diet, Duck and Tripe, which is also Chicken Free. To save you money in January we are offering 5% off if you use coupon code Jan5% If you sign up to Subscribe and Save, Not only can you benefit from 5% off every month but also get cheaper postage. If you have any queries or want to discuss the best diet for your dog then please do not hesitate getting in contact. We have lots of choice for a Chicken Free Diet for your dog.

http://www.wessexfm.com/blogs/James/youll-want-to-wash-your-dog-with-this-in-weymouth/

James from Wessex FM Breakfast visited the shop recently to try out the K9000 Dot It Yourself Dog wash.  Just shows you how great it is.

I started my working life in admin, working for companies such as 3M and Carphone Warehouse. My dogs were home alone all day as that’s what everyone did. I saw a need for something more for dogs of working families and so my business www.leadondogwalking.co.uk was born.

At the time it was a new service that was being offered and I was lucky to be near to Windsor Forest so the walks that I could do were enchanting to say the least.  Walking at Windsor Great Park with the castle in the background was truely amazing.

The service I wanted to offer was walking the dogs for at least an hour and not at local parks etc but places that would not only be fulfilling for the dogs but also for me.

I was insured for walking upto 6 dogs and this was the usual number that I went out with.  Although having dogs all my life and working with horses I did not have any formal qualifications in anything resembling animal care, however I had a passion for making sure that the dogs were stimulated during the day when their owners were out.

I loved taking all the younger dogs as a group and them going mad in the forest together.  Taking lots of photos and posting them online for the owners to see. At the time this was acceptable as where I walked you rarely saw other people We even took on a dog whose previous walker brought all the other dogs to the clients garden and let the dogs do their thing there, not walking the dogs at all.

There were literally only 3 dog walkers in the area, we all knew each other, we knew the other dogs and we worked together to make sure we all had space. Over the years there seemed to be more and more dog walkers.  Some had the same idea as myself, whilst others packed as many dogs into their vans as possible and just let them out for 5 mins for a toilet break.  We even took on one dog that had a previous dog walker who it was discovered let the other dogs out in the owners garden to run around and not walk them at all!!  There were some truly unbelievable stories.

With more and more walkers appearing whether owners or dog walkers, walking large groups was becoming less and less enjoyable and more and more hazardous.  SO it became much more enjoyable walking the smaller groups of upto 4 dogs.  This was not a regular occurance though.

I then started studying for a career working with dogs and it became clear that with some dogs it was not appropriate to walk in groups.  Not necessarily due to aggression but sometimes over stimulation and many other factors.  Luckily there was another Dog Walker who specifically walked smaller groups and even individual dogs if needed.  I was professional enough to pass the dogs in my groups that I thought would be better in this environment.  It wasnt that I couldnt do this myself but my Dog Walking business was geared up to group walking.

I decided to evolve my business due to the dogs that I walked and still with the thought that we needed to enhance our dogs lives more, with interactive toys, better food and building better relationships with them.  So I have continued my studying and also started www.leadondogshop.co.uk with this in mind – now moving to Weymouth where I offer fun positive training classes.

Many of you may know that I adopted a little Staffie mix called Spud a couple of years ago and he loved his life of dog walking, and then a year later after losing Lexi my Dobermann, I rescued Harry at 11 weeks.  He to enjoyed the Dog Walking, although I was in the process of relocating to Weymouth.  I was also busily studying and attending as many courses as possible on Dog Behaviour and training.  During this time Spud continued to walk with my best friend who also walks groups of dogs, however I believed that Harry would be better to walk on smaller walks so I asked Anita from The Dogs Business to walk him.  This worked out brilliantly as Anita’s husband walked him and Harry loved him dearly.  What this did to help Harry was not only to be walked by a man, he was very much a mummies boy but also he got one to one training in mixing with other dogs and adapting to different environments.

After moving to Weymouth and working once again Full Time in the shop I needed to find a dog walker for Harry as he is extremely lively.  I spent many a night on Facebook looking at dog walkers and also going online to check out websites.  Although there were many dog walkers on there that offered group walks and looked fine, I was aware that as I did sometimes more than 6 dogs were walked in a group, not ideal for Harry and also did I know that although looking good did they actually do their hours walks.

So my tips for choosing a dog walker are:-

Figure out exactly what your dogs needs are and how this can be met?  Do they need an hours walk or 2 x 30 minutes walk or just a visit? Research every dog walker out there, dont just look at their webpage put look at facebook and take your time – originally I would of recommended referrals but does this person truly know what happens on their dogs walks. If you see a Dog Walker out, talk to them.  Get to know a couple of dog walkers. Try to go out for a couple of walks with your Dog Walker before trusting them with your dog. Once in a while check up on your Dog Walker.  At the end of the day our dogs are our babies and in an unregulated industry even the best dog walkers can have off days, weeks, months so continued monitoring is essential. Ensure that your dog walker believes in Positive Dog Training, using treats and not telling your dog off.  If there is a training issue they need to address this with you for you to decide what to do about it. Continue to check numbers – as a Dog Walker, keeping control of 6 dogs is hard enough let alone more. Also I know you think your dog is great with group walking but is he just great because he is managing or is he truly happy on a group walk.  Would your Dog Walker be experienced enough to let you know if he is not – sometimes as I mentioned I had to give up some of the dogs as I knew that my group walking was just not appropriate for that particular dog. Check the vehicle your dogs will be taken in. How long will your dog be in the vehicle. Check insurance documents carefully.

And also do look at some activities that your dog can do at home whilst you are not there to take the guilt and pressure off of you whilst you are away.

Harry’s Dog Walker Outcome was that I was lucky enough to stumble upon a great person who comes to collect Harry, however does not put him in his car but walks him from wherever he collects him from.  He gives him a good 1 hour walk which I know is happening as he leaves me at one time and returns an hour later – even if he did not walk for 1 hour but sat on a bench watching the cars go by this was fine for my adolescent doberman as it is all learning for him. Chris gives me all the tales of Harry happily playing with other dogs and Harry gets not only road work, but great socialisation without me being around.

Spud on the other hand if he had a Dog Walker would be great in a large group as that is what enhances his life.  I am currently looking into this for him.

I hope this helps you chose a dog walker that is right for your dog and you of course.

 

So excited as we have moved into new premises in Weymouth, Dorset last week and today we have had the K9 Dogwash installed so that people can come down pay anything from £8 and bath and dry their dogs in 10 minutes.  Brilliant idea although I am not sure my dogs felt that way when I bathed them.  Check out our facebook page for photos  https://www.facebook.com/LeadOnDogShop/

 

As every Hoochie the Staffie is still giving the toys a good test and still more are failing than winning the battle against Hoochies jaw.  This is invaluable and up to date feedback can be found on our facebook and twitter pages.

Unfortunately in May this year I woke up to find my beautiful Lexi had passed away.  She was only 8 and had been hunting the night before.  I think she had gone to get up and had a heart attack.  She is still on the Meet the Testers page as I am still grieving her loss as it was so sudden and she is a real hole in our family.

However this week we collected Harry, an 11 week old Doberman who came into rescue as he was and is very nippy and the owners had a 5 year old child who is bit  ( although maybe more nipping – but he does have really razor like teeth).  We are not sure if we will keep him yet and have agreed to foster and I will work on his mouthing and try to settle him more.  So he has joined Spud, Homer and Pippa with us for the near future.  Today was his first day with us and he is exhausted.  I think he will become our chief tester with time as he really is into everything.

He has gone straight onto Eden Dog Food and is on 4 meals a day at the moment as he is a little skinny.  I will let you know how he get on.

More info on him and up to date info on everything else can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Finally confirmed all the show bookings for this year.

The first show is

http://www.allaboutdogsshow.co.uk/Newbury-dog-show-attractions.htm – this was a great show last year and we met some lovely people

Then in May we have the following

http://www.londonpetshow.co.uk/ and we have been lucky to get into http://www.rwhs.co.uk/

In June we are at http://www.dog-fest.co.uk/

Then we are off til August when we are attending our favourite show of the year http://www.buckhamfair.co.uk/ So excited to be taking Spud back to this show and showing Martin and his team how great he is.  They met him when he was still up for rehoming so will be so pleased to see him again.

We then have http://www.dorsetcountyshow.co.uk/page/home

And then to end the year

The National Pet Show in Birmingham

We are also hoping if Royal Windsor goes well to attend Olympia at Christmas.

As you can see busy busy and a great opportunity to meet all our customers old and new.  These are all great shows and highly recommended.

I filled a JW Pet Holee football with treats for the puppy and Homer ate the whole thing!!! Sometimes you wonder how you can be so stupid. The vets and I have decided to let it pass through (crossing my fingers) but this should be a warning to everyone. Make sure the toys you have in your toy box are the appropriate size for your dog. Will keep you posted

Although this great food is rated 5/5 on the Allaboutdogfood website and is by far superior against alot of other dry dog foods, some dogs still struggle to digest it.  This is because not all foods are for every dog.

Luckily Eden have bought out 2 further foods to help with this.  Catch of the Day which is fish based and now Country Cuisine which is Game based and has the added benefit of Coconut Oil which is a superfood for us and our dogs.

So take a look at the alternative Eden Dog Food before ordering.  Quite a few dogs can get an allergy to Chicken which is in the Original formula so why not try a different one.  With such choice now our dogs are really going to thrive.